


Keith from the Desert

by inuyashamunkey



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Based off of Tumblr comic, But Keith doesn't think he deserves that, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Give hugs to Keith, Hospitals, Keith is so deserving of love, M/M, Post Season 7, Shiro loves him tho, Sunsets, but he doesn't think he is, character injury, cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 19:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16455803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inuyashamunkey/pseuds/inuyashamunkey
Summary: Shiro was everything beautiful in this world, but Keith?Well...Keith was just...Keith was just from the desert.That's all, he was nothing special.





	Keith from the Desert

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a comic by @zuspacey on Tumblr

Red bloomed in my temple and blinded me on the left side, pain blistering and burning, but I couldn't stop my mind from wandering back to you.

Always back to you; My constant, my hero.

The earring you gifted me so many years ago, when I was just a cadet and you were just a saint, twinkled in the corner of the only eye I could see out of, ripped out with a chunk of flesh, a strip that tore down and down until it became numb. I couldn't hear.

I was still, but my heart beat strong, hopeful that I'd see you again even if I had to drag my broken and beaten body on my shattered arms. I'd paint every street in the world red with my blood if it meant that I saw you again.

 I couldn't tell if my chest hurt because there was blood coming up my throat or if I was going into withdrawals, physical ailments resulting from being away from you. It wouldn't be the first time my body had given out on me due to your absence, it would be the thousandth for I lost my breath every time you were away.

You were my air and I was suffocating, roses blooming in my lungs and spilling out of my lips, every petal for you.

Then, everything went black and I thought... I thought that was it and that the fates were so cruel that they'd laughed as I died, hundreds of miles away from you but you... you would be okay, I was sure.

You were always much stronger than I was. Much more beautiful.

~

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner," Shiro apologized, his jacket wrapped over his arm as he panted, exertion seeping from his pores. He'd run here as fast as he could.

Krolia smiled gently, a forgiveness only a mother could offer clouding her eyes, her hand was holding Keith's. "Have you seen the medics?"

Shiro laughed breathily, stepping into the room, "No, I-I couldn't even  _think_  about it...not before seeing him." It'd been seven days since the incident, and he'd spent every second just trying to get back no matter how many people tried to stop him.

And a lot had tried to stop him, tried to claim he was the new pseudo captain of the ATLAS but Shiro wanted nothing to do with it at the moment. He just wanted a second the  _breathe._ When was the last time he'd gotten to do that?

He sat heavily on the stool next to Keith's bedside, his shoulders held down by an invisible weight.

If Krolia noticed, she let it go with grace as she stood, "Either way, I thank you for coming, I know that you are... busy with everything that's happened. With your new position."

Shiro spared a glance at Keith who didn't seem to be totally unconscious, small, incomprehensible sounds coming from his direction. He stared fondly as he shook his head, "I'll never be too busy for this."

"I'd rather you go to get treatment, stars know you need it, but... I had a feeling I'd regret leaving the... flirty one and the short one with Keith in this state," Krolia said, her nose scrunched in distaste as she mentioned the two.

Shiro grinned, amused at her descriptions of his friends. "Oh," he ducked his head in good humor, his eyes crinkling, "you made the wise decision, ma'am."

"I thought I did," Krolia said. She leaned over Keith, lovingly brushing his hair away from his forehead and kissing it. His violet eyes fluttered open during the gesture, blearily looking up at his mother. "Rest well, I'll be back."

Keith blinked slowly. "Be back soon?" He mumbled. There was a fluttering in Shiro's chest; he'd never seen Keith this out of it.

_Or this happy, but god did he deserve it._

"Of course," Krolia replied gently, letting the pad of her thumb rub the exposed parts of his forehead. She straightened and left with one final wave.

Keith set his sights on Shiro. Shiro smiled, "Hey, how do you feel?"

"Sh'ro?" Keith asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

~

Death was white, I learned. Death was white and gray and gold and tan and bright and soulful and death was everything I ever wanted in life. Death was your smile and your brightness, it was a sluggish numbness that filed my nerves to their roots and all I could think was _just this moment, that's all I want._

You stood and you were missing wings but I wasn't surprised; I knew you would build your own out of ash and smoke if you had to. You could do anything, I'd seen proof of that every day that I spent with you.

You wouldn't have to build your own wings, though, no, I'd tear myself apart, shave my own bones down to give you your wings. You'd had your flight taken from you once, and I'd sworn it'd never happen again come heaven or hell, death couldn't stop me.

You were hesitant as you approached and I wanted to grab you and hold you and tell you that you needed to hurry up because I didn't have much time left, but I guess it was a punishment for flying too close to the sun while living, even in death I wouldn't be allowed to feel its warmth.

You spoke but curtains of water waded around me, I couldn't hear your voice and I felt warmth dripping down my cheeks and saw your face go pale and you got closer suddenly and you looked upset and all I could think was,  _why can I never make you happy?_

~

Shiro didn't know what to do when Keith started crying. He just did what he always did, really. He held him and rocked him, tried to tell him everything was okay.

He knew it was the drugs that had made Keith this way, but he couldn't help but feel like it was somehow his fault, like Keith knew that it'd taken him seven days to come back. Resented him for that. 

Keith fell asleep in his arms but he didn't move at all the entire time.

He slept for three hours and, the next time he woke up, he seemed more lucid. "Mh...Shiro?" he sounded parched, Shiro quickly offered up a glass of water.

Keith took greedy gulps, water dripping down his chin and after he set his glass down, he looked up at Shiro from underneath his long, dark lashes. "I'm not dead?"

Shiro's heart gave a jolt,  _"No,"_  he said in  rush, " _Why_ -why would you be  _dead?_ "

Keith gave a miniscule shrug, "Dunno."

The space between them became dense with silence. Shiro cleared his throat, "Are you in pain?"

Keith shook his head slowly, "No. How long has it been?"

Shiro wet his lips briefly, "The crash was a week ago."

"How is everyone else?" 

"Fine. They all woke up before you did, so they're fine," Shiro told him.

Keith's eyes flickered to the side of the room where there was a large window. Shiro stood and opened the curtains, allowing Keith to see the bright, orange-colored sunset.

Shiro moved to sit back down but Keith seemed to be struggling with sitting up. He tried by himself for a while before finally turning to Shiro with a huff, "Help?"

If Shiro were a stronger man, he would've said no. But, as it was, he let Kith sit halfway in his lap, his head resting on his real shoulder, all just so he could see the sunset.

~

I was alive. I didn't know life could be so vibrant. it wasn't, before you. I'd lived my life seeing something but grays and whites, reds and browns, but  _you_...you gorgeous spectacle...you showed me the sun.

You showed me the sun as it rose, sitting on top of hover cars in the desert. You showed me the sun as it hid behind curtains of white and sprinklings of blue while we played in the fields. You showed me the sun as it fell asleep, leaving the gift of carnations and sunflowers in its wake for the moon and you shared with me their love story.

The stars, once a daunting show of power in the dark, became the light to guide me home, to guide me to _you_. I wasn't afraid of the thunder that made the world shake, not anymore, it was just the noise that housed the brightness of your lightning, impossible to look away from.

I loved everything I hated before, everything that scared me. I loved the moon, the stars, the legends, the myths, the sun, the rain clouds. I loved everything the sky had to offer.

But I loved you most.

~

"S'nice," Keith mumbled against his shoulder, his eyes drooping with the drags of sleep. Shiro hummed in agreement. He'd missed the calmness Earth had to offer over the years. "I wish I could stay like this forever."

Red flooded Shiro's cheeks and he swallowed noisily. Carefully, he wrapped an arm around Keith's waist. "You..." he licked his lips, "you can... if you want to."

Keith didn't move, his face just as serene as it had been. "Hmm, no, I can't..."

Shiro's eyes widened, hurt filling his chest. Keith continued.

~

"You're so bright..."  _The brightest thing I'd ever let myself be blinded by--_  "...like a star."

You were made of eclipses and sunshine and meteors and star stuff,  from nebulas to black holes and everything in between.

"Sometimes it hurts just to look at you." Your hand tightened where it was wrapped around me, seeping your warmth into my coldness. It was true; you were so bright I had been blinded by everything you were, everything I thought you were.

But you weren't what I thought you were, no.

You were more. 

You were asteroid belts and red giants and everything spectacular but you were so...so very  _achingly_  human. You were smiles and tears and love and hope and happiness and sadness, you were every contradiction in the book, but godyou wore it so well.

You wore human like a well-fitted coat, hiding beneath the rainbow and flourishes of all of your spectacularity, letting few gaze beneath like you had let me.

I'd tried to reach you, once, in all of your awesomeness, but Icarus never did touch the sun, did he? Just as the sun, you could never belong to anyone, nobody was deserving of your light.

You were everything and I...

"I'm just Keith from the desert."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

>  **Check me out on Tumblr** https://www.tumblr.com/blog/one-trigger-lullaby
> 
> **Check out Zuspacey** https://zuspacey.tumblr.com/


End file.
